Do not fear all you Roman Catholics out there... Pope Benedict the XVI is alive and well (as far as I know)... however, though the Pope in Rome is okay, there was indeed a Pope who died this past weekend... it was Pope Shenouda III, the head of the See of St. Mark, otherwise known as the Coptic Church.

Pope Benedict XVI is the head of the Holy See of St. Peter, while Shenouda III was the head of the Holy See of St. Mark... confused yet? Just wait...

The Coptic Church has existed roughly since the 5th century when it split from the Roman Catholic Church; the split essentially has to do with the nature of Christ - Catholics believe that Christ had two natures, Human and Divine, while Copts believe only in the Divine nature of Christ.

Shenouda III was the 117th Patriarch of Alexandria (his other title) and there are about 16 million Coptic Christians world wide-12 million of which live in Egypt; the location of the Holy See of St. Mark.

Shenouda was known to be an advocate of Christian-Muslim relations and a strong believer that the two religions could coexist in peace. He himself had been exiled in the desert monastery of St. Bishoy in 1982 by the then President of Egypt Anwar Sadat; Sadat stripped him of his powers for criticizing Islamic extremists. Shenouda was freed by President Mubarak, who was ousted from power during last year's "Arab Spring Revolutions."

Sehnouda will be buried at St. Bishoy; his body will be transported there from Cairo by a military transport.... there is no set timetable for picking his successor.

Peter G Per3

3/19/2012 09:21:41 pm

I didn't realize that there was more than one Pope. That's good how he was an advocate for Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt. I wonder when they'll find a replacement for him and how long it will take.

Erica Period 2

3/20/2012 01:31:05 am

Confused... i think so. I knew that there were many different religions and beliefs, but i never really studied how indepth and precise they can get. Imagine trying to make a list of every religion in the world, it would be impossible, im sure there are still many religions that no one really knows about, ones that people just make up and believe in. I would never be able to understand all of this religion stuff!

Casey per. 3

3/20/2012 03:32:28 am

Why yes, I am very confused. What I don't get is if he was stripped of his powers and title and was outcasted to another place then why when he died is he being brought back to his place of holiness? My thoughts are how did the people react to his exile and death?

Dana Period 6

3/20/2012 05:16:25 am

So, how many popes are there? This is very confusing. What are they going to do to get a new pope? Is it like the same form of the Roman Catholics or is it diferent? I am very confused.

Victoria Period 4

3/20/2012 06:27:28 am

I did not know that there are so may pope,i thought there was just one who lives in Italy. Plus there were a lot of confusing words in there so i didn't really get what that blog was about. Im glad im christian because there are lots of things i dont get most of those catholic terms.

Cara Period 2

3/20/2012 06:41:52 am

I did not know there were so many popes in the world. I think when someone thinks of a pope, they think of the ONE from Rome. I, myself never knew that there were multiple popes. This blog was kind of confusing to me. I have never heard of someone that is a Christian-Muslim. Those are 2 completely different religions and it doesn't make sense to me...

Julianna Period 2

3/20/2012 07:50:21 am

I do not realize that there was more than one Pope. But, I'm very confused as well. When I heard about the Pope, or the Pope's name, I think of the Pope in Italy, and that's all. This blog confused me quite a bit, I never knew a Pope would let two religions coexist in peace. There's so much religion stuff in this blog, it doesn't make sense! But, I'm glad Pope Benedict XVI is alive.

Katelyn R Per 2

3/20/2012 08:02:32 am

Wow this was very confusing. I did not know that there were so many Popes in the world and each of them followed slightly different beliefs from one an other. It is crazy that there are so many religions in this world and some of them are very similar but differ in some beliefs. I am not familiar with a lot of these religions that are followed by many different people in this world.

Branden per 1

3/20/2012 12:20:26 pm

I was also confused by this and did not know there was more than one pope. I think many people haven't even heard of this religion along with myself. I think it just goes to show how many religions are really out there.

masse 4

3/20/2012 08:58:19 pm

I know that this is not a very popular religion, but I am surprised that this did not make the news.

Nikkii Period 6

3/21/2012 04:32:24 am

The fact that a pope can believe that Christians and Muslims could coexist in peace, despite the extreme differences in our religion and tragic world events is simply astounding. I feel like this should be an example set for Christians. First of all, he taught us that Muslims should not be discriminated against and hated for their harmful actions. In addition, it proves that it is best to turn the other cheek and forgive. The pope believed that the two religions could be peaceful, despite the fact that he was stripped of power by the President of Egypt.

Anneliese period 6

3/21/2012 07:33:53 am

I didn't know that there was more than one pope. I've never heard of this branch of Christianity either. It's good that Shenouda believed in Christian and Muslim coexistance, which is very important today.

Meghan P4

3/22/2012 12:42:33 am

I did not know that there were multiple popes. What does this mean now for the church? will they get a new pope? and how do they choose a pope? i guess i was a little confused by this post as well as everyone else.

Shai Period 6

3/22/2012 12:44:35 am

I honestly didn't know we had more than one pope. But I guess there has been one since the 5th century. What do they do now? Pick a new one?

Corey Period 2

3/22/2012 06:19:08 am

This is odd to me, because I did not know that there was more than one pope. I guess there is one for each set of religions, not one that covered all of them. The pope dying news just brought more drama into the world, especially how this year is 2012.

Missy period one

3/22/2012 07:46:37 am

The difference isn't what confused me.. but the fact that there were two popes this whole time and I never knew, now that's confusing. So what happens now? Do the people elect a new pope or is there an order to who gets the position next..?

Jess Period 2

3/22/2012 09:46:33 am

Yeah, this definitely confused me! I obviously knew there were different religions in the world, and of course there were bound to be some I had never even heard of, but I was under the impression that there could only be ONE pope! The fact that there were apparently two is news to me.

Shawn Period 3

3/23/2012 01:23:20 pm

Since I don't believe in god or any of this crap, I don't really care. But at least I learned something new, I didn't know their was more than one pope

Drisanna w.

3/24/2012 06:36:50 am

I didnt know theyre were to popes, I wonder if there is any fueds between the roman catholics and the other religions. The roman catholics are known very well for they're one sided thinking when it comes to other religions.

period 4

3/24/2012 06:38:51 am

Tyler Period 6

3/24/2012 08:42:11 am

I love the fact that almost everyone's comment says that they didn't know that there was two popes, I didn't know either but I just found it kind of funny yo that in around twenty comments only like one people disregarded the fact that there was two popes.

Daniel period 1&2

3/25/2012 04:43:38 am

I have never heard of this other church. I also did not know that the catholic church was called its other name. It is a pretty small religious group considering catholic make up 1.1 billion of all Christians. At the same time this pope has been ruling for a Pretty long time.

Matt per.4

3/26/2012 10:27:58 am

I dont follow all the pope stuff i have little interest in things like religion and power. As long as im free in my country and i have the rights i have and im allowed to believe in whatever i want then i could care less ab out all this stuff.

Keshia period 4

3/28/2012 06:16:59 am

Well, i knew that popes exsisted but i didnt know that there were so many of them. How many popes are there? Its horrible that the pope had died. There is always someone new that dies everyday. Its so sad to think about those families that have lost a family member or a close friend.

Zachary D per 1

3/31/2012 01:37:24 am

It confuses me that he was exiled for criticizing Islamic extremists when he was a known advocate of Christian-Muslim relations saying that they could coexist peacefully.

Zach Mellin period 1

4/4/2012 02:47:08 am

As a born Roman catholic and a student of history, I am fully aware that my reliigon is not always (or even often) in the right. I am also aware that there are far too many obscure sects of Christianity based on random, small differences... while I am not familiar with this church, it seems a reasonable enoughoption... but there has to be something that results in this being such a little known church.

On a slightly more personal diatribe, I strongly believe that these churches, including Roman Catholics, are stuck in the past, following dated, millenii-old rules. People need to come out of aged believes, because they are NOT aging well.

Sarah B. Period 1

4/4/2012 04:39:06 am

I think I was confused after the first paragraph..I didn't know that there was more than one Pope. I thought there was actually just one Pope to be honest. I also didn't think that someone with that position of religious "power" would want two religions to coexist.